NOVEL NEXT chapter 11
11 – What’s the use if you die
“Just call me sir··· Why?”
“Oh, is that so? hehehehe, can I use some points?”
“I’ll only buy what’s necessary.”
“Buy whatever you want, and don’t ask me again.”
“Thank you, sir!! Kyahak”
“Thank you, sir···!”
They moved a few meters, giggling, then engaged in a conversation with satisfaction.
– What should we buy? Will we get scolded if we buy a diffuser?
– Well, shouldn’t we start with buying sanitary pads first?
Everything is audible.
Um···
Listening to their conversation, it becomes vividly clear that they have to live their lives inside this shelter from now on.
“Eutcha-!”
Sitting on the chair, I check another part.
I understood killing the boss and earning points, but an unbelievable achievement···
Is it really that great? I mean, I barely managed to kill it, but I don’t know if it’s incredibly strong or anything.
Drip, drip, drip-
Even after the stage ends and healing is done, the blood that comes out is still dangerous, as if wanting to say, but well···
I was a bit lucky, trying to catch Gaehee and accidentally getting stuck among the zombies while entering.
Of course, I also received attacks from the zombies.
Anyway, now that I can deal 30% more damage to the boss monsters, I guess I’ll be in charge of the night battles. Their faces were so disgusting, those things, ugh…
Well, still, it feels more comfortable for me that way.
The long, split arm of Gahee caught my eye.
“Even with just a grazing hit like that, if it lands properly, it might really split in two.”
Don’t underestimate them just because you’ve defeated them once.
With that in mind, I turned my attention to the job search function.
What’s this again?
“A job search function…”
“Are you looking to recruit more people?”
Oh, come on. Show some enthusiasm, you guys.
“Just felt like it.”
“Hmm… Mister, seems like you died pretty quickly in the previous round. You don’t seem to know much, huh?”
“Gahee, if you say that…”
Am I starting to get comfortable? Well, it’s probably better than being awkward with each other.
“What’s with this…”
“It’s literally a request to pick someone up. But the shelter owner has to approve it.”
“…Have you seen shelter owners applying and abandoning their own residents?”
“Yeah, that golden necklace lady! Ugh! It pisses me off again when I think about it!”
“Can the owner applying mean we don’t know the resident population?”
“Yes, that’s right. When they suddenly disappeared, I wondered what happened at that time.”
“···I have a memory of going through a lot of trouble just before leaving right before the stage started···”
“Wow··· that’s another···”
There are many interesting elements, making it seem like a great game, isn’t it?
If there’s a way to focus on the points and escape, it might be a decent exit strategy.
It seems that permission is needed to move to a different shelter, and it’s not easy to just reject it outright. Leading a shelter.
I’ve never led people before in my life, hmm…
Should I bring along a capable CEO?
When I checked the bulletin board, I saw that a job search function had been added.
“Oh, there are some on other planets.”
Should I consider Korea.
Hmm··· But there are no posts yet?
Well, it hasn’t been long since the merger, so it’s probably too early for posts to appear.
There are probably still many people who haven’t cleared the game yet.
Expanding the range of activities probably means just that. Maybe the range of places to go was limited.
What I’m most looking forward to is unlocking lower-level abilities.
“Is there any restriction on acquiring abilities?”
“I don’t think I’ve heard of such a thing.”
“Hmm… I think I vaguely heard something about not being able to have the same ability?”
“Oh really? When?”
“I think I heard it from those gangster police officers.”
Same characteristics… I understand what you mean.
Seems like talking about skills with different grades, just like what Eunchae has.
So, even if the lower ones open up, there might be no need to buy them in advance?
Let’s take a look.
Some newly acquired skills.
Master of the White Army (Low Grade)
– Strength and agility +10% when attacking close-range enemies
Spherical Sensitivity (Low Grade)
– Designate 2 spheres. Attack power increases by 10% of magical power.
Low-grade Merchant
– Unlock necessary items (twice per stage)
– Free purchase of items in stores with 2P or less twice a day
Aqueduct Manager (Low Grade)
– Reduces water contamination by 30%.
Helmsman (Low Grade)
– Exudes a tempting scent to lure mounts, bringing in the mounts of the five nearest shelters with a low probability.
Interesting. For now, Master of the White Army is definitely a helpful skill. But living with it right now seems a bit ambiguous. Let’s keep it.
Spherical Sensitivity seems like the best skill, doesn’t it? It means it keeps giving an attack power buff until the end of the stage. Let’s keep this one too.
As for the Low-grade Merchant, it’s a list that will fill up over time. Do we really need it? It’s a bit inconvenient, let’s skip it.
Water supply administrator, this is the most incomprehensible part. Are they saying the drinking water is contaminated?
I asked the guys sitting next to me.
“The water coming out of the shelter seems to be considered all drinking water. But as the stages progress, the water gets contaminated, and later on, people even get diarrhea.”
Ugh… Is it because of those filthy zombie particles?
Wasn’t this the most important thing?
“When did the diarrhea start?”
“It started after passing stage 10.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“Water supply administrator, is it because of this?”
“Yeah… Have you experienced this trait before?”
“The first time, we hurriedly bought it when the situation arose, but now I think there are quite a few people buying it in advance. After all, we need proper water first.”
“That makes sense…”
Wouldn’t it be better to buy it now? I don’t know how significant the 30% is, though.
The purifier might, um… be a potential issue with nearby shelters. There’s probably no need to increase enemies unnecessarily.
The demons are both a threat to us and crucial resources.
It’s a bit disappointing, but we probably don’t need to buy it right away.
So, I wonder how much the water supply administrator’s trait is worth.
Price: 3000P
Hmm… It’s more than double the usual traits.
Still, I have to buy this.
Water is precious.
-3000P
Points Held: 785,588
Hm…?
Shelter Water Contamination: 27/100
– If water with a contamination level of 50 or higher is consumed, the likelihood of abnormal conditions occurring increases.
– If water with a contamination level of 70 or higher is consumed, stamina will continuously decrease.
– If water with a contamination level of 90 or higher is consumed, permanent impairment of abilities will occur.
– If water with a contamination level of 100 is consumed, death will occur.
This is chilling.
A contamination level of 100 is just like a lethal poison. Lethal poison.
I made the right choice not to drink it. Permanent impairment of abilities, seriously?
There was something unbelievable hidden in it, right?
If I had continued alone, the chances of not buying it and passing by would have been high.
In many ways, teaming up with them might have been a good choice.
It’s still uncomfortable in many ways though.
‘Remove Contamination’
Shelter Water Contamination: 0/100
Wow, I can drink clean water now!
‘Remove Contamination?’
Available for one use per stage.
I thought so. Just in case, hehehehe.
Status window, slowly and carefully.
···
I’m sorry, system. Show me the status window.
Eun Gyeon (Lv.4) (5)
Health: 36(+2)
Mana: 154(+2)
Strength: 25(+4)
Agility: 23(+2)
Oh, my, my strength has increased a lot.
But still, it’s not the worst.. Phew..
-6P
-6P
-3P
-1P
-3P
Huh? Why are they so calm? Have they finally made a decision? I wonder what they bought.. I’m subtly curious.
Clank-!
Um… Could this cheerful sound be…
“Come over here, sir~”
When I turned my head towards the kitchen, there were beer, chicken leg snacks, and that green thing on the small shelf. What’s that?
Unable to resist, I got up to take a look. It’s… dried seaweed. Hmm, dried seaweed.
High school girls like them are drinking beer with dried seaweed? In broad daylight?
“Salty ~”
“Huh? Uh, um…”
“hehehehe, the beer after finishing exams always tastes the best.”
Oh, is that so? But aren’t you not supposed to drink beer?
As I hesitated a bit, Eun-chae glanced at me and said, “Oh, we should have gotten permission to buy and drink alcohol. Sorry.”
It doesn’t seem like they’re doing it on purpose, and seeing them drink so naturally, it doesn’t seem like it’s the first or second time.
“I’m sorry if we got into the habit from the first time. hehehehe, it’s not that you can’t drink, right?”
“Sure, let’s drink.”
They might have survived until they become adults at the first round, or even if not, the world is already a mess. Is there a need to nitpick on such things?
Since I told them to do whatever they want, I had nothing to say.
“What grade are you guys in?”
But my old-fashioned mindset couldn’t hold back in the end.
After asking, it seems like I got a bit clearer picture.
“Kyaha! Huh? Um… Pheehee, how old do we look?”
“…We were in the third grade…”
“Ah, so boring.”
“Ah, third year…”
They were 20-year-olds with only the graduation ceremony left.
I wanted to ask them how long they had survived in the first round, but I decided to just let it go, feeling like it might stir up bad memories for no reason.
“…I survived until 21.”
“Hmm?”
“Oh, um, I thought you might be curious, or maybe I’m sorry.”
Eunchae, she’s subtly perceptive.
“21… So, that means you’ve survived for at least a year. But considering the current stage progress, it doesn’t seem like it will last that long. Is there something else that happens?”
Gulp, gulp-
Crunch-
As Kahee took another sip and spoke.
“The 21st stage is insane.”
Kahee put a piece of roasted seaweed in her mouth, chewed it a few times, and continued.
“Surviving for a year… Hmm? That’s quite refreshing.”
“Just surviving for a year without blocking anything like a curse or something?”
“…Yes…”
Darkness fell on Eunchae’s face as she answered.
Spending a year with complete strangers inside this shelter. And that’s within limited points, of course.
“It must have been tough···”
Nod—
Two nodding their heads slightly.
“Just think that you’ll see all kinds of dirty scenes while living.”
“···Especially from men···”
Then, the kids swallow their words.
I signaled my understanding by waving my hand.
Even without words, it’s obvious, right? Just look at those pig bastards from earlier; didn’t they come drooling without me saying anything?
“D-Does that mean we went through something like that?!”
Gaehee suddenly hits the shelf and accelerates.
“Uh, what did I say?”
“hehehehe, just kidding~”
She sticks out her tongue and laughs with a refreshing smile.
If there’s a measure of mental health, wouldn’t it have risen quite a bit now?
Perhaps to change the slightly murky atmosphere, Gaehee turns her head, pointing her finger at the shelter of the arrogant students.
“Look at that guy, I knew he’d end up like that, hehehehe.”
“···But, still, that’s a bit···”
Curious, I looked and saw one of the arrogant students in a state where his entire body seemed to swell and burst among the monsters.
Being held by a pig and a guy in sportswear, it seems his stamina is running out quickly.
“Seems it’s okay to force it like that···”
Hm-
The trembling of Gahee and Eunchae’s shoulders was evident at my words.
It’s not easy to say this even once. Hoo-hoo.
Although most of the time, thinking is done alone.
“But isn’t that guy the owner of the shelter?”
“It seems like a joint ownership.”
“So, is the owner the two of them?”
“Judging by the way even the pig is reacting, it seems like they evenly distributed the shares among four people.”
Tsk tsk- It’s not easy to transfer ownership points.
However, as I fired a few more shots while being held on both sides, the guy’s body swelled up like a balloon. With a tremendous explosion and swirling flames, in an instant, it engulfed and turned into ash, including the gym clothes guy and the pig.
Shuwa-haaah!
“Euhahahahaha-!”
“Kyaah!”
Oh, what the hell is that, disgusting-
The bizarre transformation into something like a balloon and its explosive burst were shocking enough, but the destructive power also left us in awe.
A whirlwind of flames that instantly blew away more than a hundred monsters.
All that remained there were gray spheres.
“Wow, that’s something…”
“What the heck is it…”
Judging by their reactions, it seems like they’re seeing this phenomenon for the first time too…
Is it a passive ability in that jerk’s trait?
Like committing suicide when dying or something like that.
It’s a meaningless trait when I think about it.
What’s the use of dying anyway.